Yes, Google works with "former military operations people." But they won't tell us who, or from where

Last week, I wrote about how Google's working with a mysterious set of “former military operations people” on Project Loon — the company's zany and rather frightening attempt to have an army of WiFi/surveillance balloons that are constantly circling the globe way up in the atmosphere.

The information came via a report by Wired's Steven Levy. Given Google’s history of close collaboration with the military-industrial complex, it wasn't terribly surprising. Hell, Google's DC office is crammed to the brim with former spooks, intelligence officials and revolving door military contractors.

But I was still curious: What kind of “former military operations people” are we talking about here? Are they on loan from a government agency? Are they private military contractors? Independent agents? And what country's military did they come from?

So I put the question to Google's PR department.

Google refused to confirm or deny the information, replying that "we don't comment on specific personnel issues" and "sorry, but we don't have any additional details to share."

In other words: Yes, Google does work with "former military operations." But as to who they are? Well, take your pick and let your worst fears guide you, because Google clearly doesn't care what you or I think.